Grant: Operating Grant: SPOR Innovative Clinical Trial Multi-Year Grant

Chronic diseases are associated with shorter lifespans, frequent contact with the health care system, and reduced quality of life. New ways of delivering health services are needed to promote health and ensure consistent, high quality care for Canadians living with chronic conditions. It is important, however, that new interventions and strategies are carefully studied to ensure they benefit patients and provide value. The Interdisciplinary Chronic Disease Collaboration (ICDC) is a team of health care leaders, researchers, patients, and care providers who work together to address health challenges. We research new ways of providing care for patients with chronic diseases and measure the impact of these changes on patient outcomes and experiences. We collect data and report our findings to the public and to health care decision makers. Over the next four years, the team plans to test health innovations and interventions that aim to improve care, safety and outcomes for people with three common and closely related chronic diseases: heart disease, diabetes and kidney disease. These studies will focus on: 1) the way patients' symptoms and experiences are recorded, communicated, and acted upon during doctors' visits, and whether these changes improve patient outcomes and experiences 2) the impact of using electronic health record systems (how doctors and hospitals collect health information and use it to deliver care) on patients'' experiences and outcomes in various settings across Alberta 3) strategies using pharmacists to improve safety in using common medications during times of illness to maximize benefits and minimize risks These research initiatives are each designed to produce new knowledge for patients, healthcare providers, and policy makers. The team is skilled in research design and rigorous evaluation, approaches that will allow rapid uptake of successful strategies into Alberta's health system.